Slip and fall accidents at work happen far too frequently. In fact, they are the third-leading cause of unintentional death in the nation.

Despite the frequency of slip and falls at work, safety audits by companies generally have not focused on floor safety. But this is beginning to change. In 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised a walking-working surface regulation. Employers now must inspect all working surfaces “regularly and as necessary,” according to the new rules.    

On the heels of the new OSHA regulation, EHS Today recently published a list of helpful tips for employers to keep their facilities safe for workers. Slip and fall accidents are common and costly, which is why companies should heed the advice of EHS Today. 

Returning to the workplace after a back injury is a dangerous venture. During recovery, workers are more likely to injure themselves again or make the original injury worse. As such, it is vitally important that workers avoid returning too early and know how to perform their duties safely once they can do so.

This is especially true of back injuries because so much of what we do on the job is grounded on the health of our back.

The big question, then, is what steps employers can take to identify and address hazards on walking and working surfaces. It is important for employers to know their options to keep employees safe.

Mobile technology has become the norm in our daily lives. Hands-free systems that enable us to speak to our cars, wireless headsets for our phones, and even apps that allow us to control the lights and thermostats in our homes while away have all helped to make our lives more connected.

The pressing question, however, is whether we can use the same technology to monitor worker health and safety that we use to check on the content of our fridges. As it turns out, there are a number of companies doing exactly that, especially for employees who operate away from their employers.

The opioid epidemic tearing through our nation is damaging families and communities and costing governments billions of dollars. Many approaches are being sought to curb the epidemic and recoup expenses spent on treating it. Last month, for instance, eleven cities and towns filed a lawsuit in Cook County, Illinois against both pharmaceutical companies and three specific doctors alleged to have helped cause and spread the epidemic.

One recent study, however, has turned its attention to the way workers’ compensation is impacted by the prescription of opioids, and the data is not kind to the drugs.

In 2016, around 60 percent of nonfatal workplace injuries were the result of common, everyday mistakes. Since these are largely preventable issues, CPI Security worked to create a list of the eight most frequent injury types and their causes to enable employers to make adjustments to employee safety.

Madison.com reports that the data used originated with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and reviewed nonfatal injuries that caused days off work. The data did not include the self-employed, workers on small farms (10 or fewer people), private household workers, volunteers, or federal government workers.

Everyone experiences fatigue from time to time. For some people, it becomes a part of their everyday life. Whether they realize it or not, they are putting themselves and the people around them at risk.

The Center for Construction Research and Training has organized data from the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program to create a searchable database of construction fatalities. Using this database, they were able to identify trends in construction fatalities from 1982 to 2015.

They found that nearly half of all deaths in the construction industry during that window involved falls.

Workplace accidents can happen anytime of the year, but winter is an especially challenging time for outdoor workers in Illinois. Snow and ice accumulation. Frigid temperatures. Dangerous debris. These are real cold weather hazards that employers can’t ignore.

EHS Today recently reported on the four steps an emergency health and safety manager can take to protect employees. Our workers’ compensation attorneys urge employers to follow these steps to keep their outdoor workers safe.

While Illinois is known for cold winters, the recent stretch of arctic temperatures has tested even the most hearty Midwesterners. For those who make their living outdoors, the snow and ice not only can add up to unpleasant working conditions, but also can bring a risk of injury.

Specifically, outdoor workers during the winter months face a higher risk of slipping, tripping and falling than during other times of the year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2014, there were 34,860 slip-and-fall injuries involving ice, sleet or snow requiring workers to take at least one day off to recuperate. The BLS also reported thousands of other slip-and-fall accidents that did not result in lost work time.